Sri Lanka clinch T20 Asia Cup 2022 Title

Sri Lanka won the T20 Asia Cup 2022 final in a grand style against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. Pakistan were all out and 23 runs short from the benchmark Sri Lanka set for them.

Wanindu Hasaranga’s three wickets with the ball following an exuberant batting and Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s outstanding 71 not out helped Sri Lanka clinch the title of Asia Cup for the sixth time. Sri Lankan bowler Pramod Madushan, in his second international match ever, now has four wickets in the final.

The Asia Cup 2022 was full of ups and downs from both Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on September 11, 2022.

Although Mohammad Rizwan’s 55 of 49 balls raised some hope for Pakistan, it went in vein as there was hardly any batter from Pakistan to stand steady and make runs against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan were very lethargic on the field as the players dropped catches, gave extra runs from midfield and so on. On the other hand, Sri Lankan fielders were full of energy on the field.

Pakistan started batting and got 9 bonus runs in the very first over. The first ball was called a no-ball. The Sri Lankan bowler Madushanka puzzled and bowled a series of wide balls, one of which swings way down the leg side for four, meaning that before a legal delivery is even bowled, Sri Lanka conceded 9.

After losing early wickets Sri Lanka were in a fix but thanks to Bhanuka Rajapaksa, the middle order batter, who helped Sri Lanka to reach 170 for 6. He knocked a brilliant 71 not out of just 45 balls with a strike rate of more than 157.  Wanindu Hasaranga’s 36of 21 balls and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 28 of 21 balls were also effective to set a target of 171 runs in 20 overs.

Pakistan’s fast bowler Haris Rauf bagged three wickets giving 29 runs in four overs. Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, and Iftikhar Ahmed got one wicket each.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl first.

Sri Lanka squad:

Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka.

Pakistan squad:

Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain. Read also the top 10 highly acclaimed and successful female athletes in the world.